Chapter 84
Chapter 84
“This… The Instance hasn’t even been open for an hour, and already so many people are dead…” Chen Lin’s face went deathly pale.
Wei Sen stood and looked toward the girl sitting on the outermost seat at the neighboring table. If she remembered correctly, this person was the Purple Team’s sole survivor.
Earlier, after everyone received their room cards, they had gone upstairs one after another. The members of this team had all been temporarily grouped together, and there were seven of them in total, so they had dragged things out until the very end before finally pairing off and heading upstairs.
“Hey, you’re from the Purple Team, right?” Wei Sen asked.
The girl, who had been eating, jumped in fright and looked up at Wei Sen in terror. “Wh-what is it?!”
“What happened to your teammates?”
The girl swallowed nervously. “They… I don’t know. We were negotiating how to team up just now, but none of them wanted to pair with me, so I teamed up with this girl group sister beside me and went upstairs first.”
“I know!” the girl group member beside her said. “My name is Mengsi. You can call me Xiaomeng too. In my opinion, that bunch deserved it. Xiaoxiao had the fewest Merit Points, so no one wanted to team up with her. They brought it on themselves.”
The Purple Team girl named Xiaoxiao lowered her head and said, “My Merit Points are only enough for three nights, after all. It’s normal that they didn’t want to team up with me…”
Xiaomeng comforted her. “Don’t be scared. What if a Red Door appears within three days?”
Xiaoxiao sighed. “I wasn’t planning to enter this door at first, but it appeared right in front of me, so I thought I’d give it a try…”
“It’s fine. It’s an S-Rank door, not SSS-Rank!”
Wei Sen cut off their conversation and looked at Xiaomeng. “You said you knew how those people died?”
“Oh.” Xiaomeng looked at Wei Sen and said, “When Xiaoxiao and I went upstairs just now, I saw the six of them coming up behind us too. But they all went to the second floor, while Xiaoxiao and I were on the third. When I reached the third floor, I saw them run into a woman. I heard her say she was an employee of the inn and that she was taking them to their rooms.”
Chen Lin slowly recited from the side, “Guest Room Rules, Rule Six: This establishment has only one employee, Meiya. No matter when or where, if you encounter anyone other than Meiya claiming to be an employee of this establishment, flee immediately!”
“Exactly. They must have violated that rule. Still, those unlucky bastards ran into an Eerie Entity before they even entered their rooms and saw the rules. Who could’ve expected that, right?” After Xiaomeng finished speaking, she went back to eating.
“As expected of an S-Rank Instance. It really catches you off guard at every turn.” After listening to Xiaomeng, Xu You couldn’t help sighing as well.
Guo Lan’s expression grew even more solemn. “So, everyone, it’s best to be careful about everything. If you sense anything at all is wrong, the best choice is…”
“Run first, ask questions later!” Huang Xinze declared with certainty.
The corner of Guo Lan’s mouth twitched slightly. “Yes, more or less.”
By the time they finished eating, the sky outside had gone completely dark, and the biting cold wind howled.
The light spilling from the inn fell across the snow-covered ground, illuminating the goose-feather snowflakes swirling through the air.
“I just hope that if we survive past seven days, a bus really does come to pick us up,” Xu You said with a sigh.
Guo Lan said, “It should be fine. Based on my experience clearing Instances, information given by non-hostile NPCs is usually reliable.”
Wei Sen looked at the others. “I was planning to check out the hot spring pool, but since it’s dark now, we should return to our rooms as soon as possible. Once it’s daylight tomorrow, we can split up and explore.”
“Mm, I agree,” Guo Lan said.
Xia Susu and the others walked over as well.
“What about you? Are you going to look for clues to clear the Instance, or go back to your rooms?” Zhou Jie looked down at them from above.
Huang Xinze braced a hand on the table and stood too, towering a head over Zhou Jie as he asked in return, “What about you?”
“I’m going back to my room to rest first. My legs are killing me after hiking mountain paths all day!” Xia Susu pouted.
Liu Shuang looked helpless. “I’d like to gather a few more clues, but since Susu needs to rest, I’d better go back to the room too, in case she runs into danger.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Xiaoxue tilted her head and looked at Liu Shuang. “Big shot, you took my money!”
Liu Shuang scratched his head, a flicker of embarrassment crossing his face. “Well…”
“Sorry, but whatever she paid, I’ll double it,” Xia Susu said with a raised brow.
“Ha!” Lin Xiaoxue laughed out of sheer anger. This was the first time anyone had dared compare who could throw around more money in front of her. “I-”
Xu You grabbed her arm. “Forget it. We’re all on the same team anyway. Xiaoxue, you still have us! It really is pretty dangerous for Xia Susu to stay alone, so let her have one big shot.”
Lin Xiaoxue looked at Xu You suspiciously. The Sister You she knew was usually not this nice…
“Ahem. Come on, let’s go. Back to our rooms.” Xu You held Lin Xiaoxue’s hand and shot Chen Lin and Wei Sen a look.
Xu You had already been heartbroken over Xiaoxue giving Liu Shuang money. Now that Xia Susu wanted to fight over the chance to be this sucker, that was just fine by her.
“But I… but…”
Before Lin Xiaoxue could finish, the others forcibly dragged her away.
Xia Susu smiled smugly and looked at Liu Shuang. “Don’t worry, Brother Shuang. I’m definitely richer than her!”
Liu Shuang nodded. “Of course! Dropping two hundred thousand just like that-turns out Susu is the real rich lady!”
“Pfft!” Xia Susu’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “What did you say?! She offered you a hundred thousand?!”
Liu Shuang froze. “Yeah… Wait, don’t tell me you’re thinking of backing out. If you’re going to be like that, I can always move out.”
Panic flashed across Xia Susu’s face. How was she supposed to know Lin Xiaoxue had actually offered a hundred thousand?
That girl looked so young, yet she was a little rich lady too?!
“I-I have money! It’s only two hundred thousand. No big deal!” Xia Susu forced herself to keep smiling. Once she returned to the Real World, she could dance for her Big Bro patron in the livestream. If he tipped her over two hundred Carnival gifts in one night, that would be enough!
Only then did Liu Shuang smile. “All right. Let’s go. It’s getting dark, so we’d better return to the room first.”
Xia Susu and Liu Shuang left the dining hall.
Huang Xinze turned and went to find Lao Wang.
That left only He Xu, Zhou Jie, and Guo Lan.
“I don’t care what your goals are. I take people’s money and eliminate their troubles. Xiaoxue’s life is under my protection,” Guo Lan said coldly, looking at the two across from her.
He Xu smiled. “What other goal could we have? We’re just clearing the Instance ourselves and helping the newbies along the way.”
Guo Lan snorted. “We’re all people on the rankings. What’s the point of pretending with me?”
Zhou Jie simply made his stance clear as well. “Beauty, getting onto the rankings isn’t easy. You should cherish your life. We’re the same kind of people. As for money, that’s just a worldly possession. In a crisis, you need to think carefully about what matters most!”
“I don’t need you to teach me how to do things. I’ll put it right here: I don’t care about anyone else, but Xiaoxue? Stay away from her.”
After that, Guo Lan did not waste any more words on them. She turned and headed toward the backyard, clearly intending to search for more clues.
“Ptooey! Of all people, we had to run into a stubborn one like that!” Zhou Jie spat.
He Xu merely smiled in a relaxed manner. “Come on, Brother Jie. With someone like her around, doesn’t that make things easier for us? We were originally planning to check the backyard, and now someone is doing it for us.”
Zhou Jie realized it belatedly. “That’s true…”
“Tonight, we can return to our room earlier and do something we enjoy.” He Xu winked at Zhou Jie.
Zhou Jie wrapped an arm around her waist, and the two went upstairs, chatting and laughing together.